Trial Begins For Officer Jeronimo Yanez In The Shooting Death of Philando Castile

On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile was in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota, when he was fatally shot by Jeronimo Yanez, a St. Anthony, Minnesota police officer. Diamond Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter were passengers. Diamond live-streamed Philando’s dying moments and the aftermath on Facebook. The officer shot 7 times, hitting Philando Castile 5 times, twice in the heart.

“What he could see were dreadlocks, eyeglasses and the fact that Mr. Castile was a black man,” Dusterhoft said. “Based on that glimpse” he stopped the car in Falcon Heights.”

Jeronimo Yanez has been charged with three felony counts; second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.

On June 5, 2017, a jury was seated and opening statements were made. The jury consists of 9 men and 6 women which includes 3 alternates. There is one Black man and one Black woman on the jury.

Dashcam footage from officer Jeronimo Yanez’s encounter with Philando Castile was played publicly for the first time during the prosecution’s opening statements. It shows that Yanzez fired 7 shoots about a minute into the traffic stop.. Officer Joseph Kauser, Yanez’s backup, was so startled by the shots he leapt backward.

In it, Yanez walked up to the vehicle and told Castile he has a brake light that’s out before asking for his license and insurance. Castile hands over his insurance card and tells Yanez, “Sir, I do have to tell you I have a firearm,” to which Yanez replies, “OK, don’t reach for it then.”

According to KARE 11 reporter Lou Raguse, the next few moments happen very quickly.

“Castile attempts to tell the officer he’s not reaching for it then Yanez says, “Don’t pull it out,” and a second later, shots are fired.

A total of seven shots are fired as Yanez stands next to the vehicle, gun pointed into the window and repeats, “don’t move” several times.

Within a few seconds, Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, begins her Facebook Live video.

In his opening statements, the prosecutor said Castile took two shots to the heart. He then emphasized Castile’s final words, “I wasn’t reaching for it.”

Diamond Reynolds took the witness stand on Monday. She described how Castile would get her daughter ready in the morning, and how he took care of them both.

She was just beginning to describe the events of July 6 when court recessed for the day. She will take the stand again on Tuesday.

Trial is expected to take a couple of weeks. Updates will be made in the comment section.

From yesterday’s opening statements;
Prosecutor Dusterhoft said nobody saw Castile’s gun until paramedics found it in his pocket.

But defense attorney Paul Engh countered that Castile ignored his commands and reached for his gun. He said Yanez will testify that he saw Castile’s hand on the grip. He said Yanez then followed his training and made an instant decision to open fire because he believed his life was in danger.

Hi Bill! Yes, according to the prosecutor, the EMT’s found the gun in his pants pocket. Diamond Reynolds testified this morning that Philando had a holster that he wore on his waist. I think the jury will go by what the EMT’s found.

Ladylove,
It has nothing whatsoever to do with killing Philando. What the defense wants to argue is that Philando didn’t obey instructions because he was high. With the dash cam video, I don’t think that argument is going far, but we know that the jurors might think differently.

True and I understand that it’s just the way they try and make excuses for the accused and shame the victim. Hell high or not he wasn’t that high not to inform the cop that he had a license for a pistol.

are officers just stupid people? i ask because how many times do YOU think a person planning to shoot an officer would TELL that officer i have a gun???????????? him telling you he has it means he is NOT going to use it.

Bill,
Excellent point. After Philando told Yanez he was carrying, it would have been more logical for Yanez to ask Philando to get out of the car. Then he could have searched and removed the gun. What Yanez did was give himself a reason to shoot Philando by asking him for his license knowing that Philando had a gun.

It is strange that a blog would have a photo that might or might not have been taken at the crime scene, and that has not been entered into evidence, to support their opinion. Obviously, the photo is not a still from Yanez body cam because there is no body cam video. Now, for the explanation that the photo is consistent with testimony regarding the gun being in his pocket, are you saying that Yanez shot Philando 5 times for having a gun in his pocket that he told Yanez he had?

Yanez’s partner at the traffic stop, Kauser, testified that Yanez followed protocol. He also testified that Philando might have been following instructions to show his license when he was shot. Also, Kauser testified that he did not see a threat nor a gun.

Bill, I wish there was video of testimony so we could hear/watch direct and cross-examination questions. It seems to me that Yanez could only be following protocol if he had not been told by Philando that he had a gun. Once being told that, Yanez was suppose to do something other than shoot.

not trained in this area but to me the proper thing to do is to tell him to keep both hands where they can be seen and get out of the car(but that requires him to reach for the release button on his seat belt) get him out of the car and then have the officer reach for the gun in his pocket……….

Exactly, Bill. I would think the first thing Yanez should have done once told that Philando was armed, was instruct him to exit the vehicle keeping his hands so they were seen. Then Yanez could remove the gun so he could feel safe.

yanez is on recording saying he did NOT know where the gun was/is…..that means his lawyer LIED when claiming the hand was on the gun……..yanez NEVER saw the gun by his own words…..this is what angers me so much about our judicial system, obvious perjury is allowed by the defense.

I had not previously watched the press conference held by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announcing why he charged Yanez. Attorney Choi covers what is seen on the dash cam video. He also announced that he asked for, and received the assistance of the DOJ for technical issues.

also the officer that claimed the gun was falling out of the pocket LIED, since later testimony was that he was seen reaching DEEP into the pocket to get the gun…….and other previous testimony was it was found INSIDE the pocket.

Excerpt from article linked in above tweet:“Cortez’s recollection differs from accounts given by two other law enforcement officials who testified previously about the location of Castile’s gun.

“A Roseville police officer said earlier this week that he saw Castile’s gun hanging out of his pocket before the officer grabbed it and placed it on the ground in a secure location.

“A St. Paul firefighter testified that he saw an officer reach “deep” into Castile’s pocket to retrieve his firearm after patting down the 32-year-old black man’s shorts.

“Another Roseville officer who responded to the scene said he could see the handle of Castile’s gun exposed in his right pocket.

“The location of Castile’s gun is pertinent to the second-degree manslaughter charge facing Yanez because the officer claims he saw Castle gripping his gun before Yanez, fearing for his life, opened fired into his vehicle.

“The state maintains Castile was trying to access his wallet so he could provide the driver’s license Yanez had requested to see seconds earlier.”

A central question at trial has been what Yanez saw before firing seven times, barely a minute after he approached the car. Squad car video recorded him telling a supervisor after the shooting that he did not know where the gun was, although it also recorded him saying he told Castile to take his hand off it.

Asked to explain the recording, Yanez said: “What I meant by that was I didn’t know where the gun was up until I saw it in his right thigh area.”

TY that is clearly a lie by the officer, no way on earth he can see inside a car going in the other direction well enough to make that claim……also this is why i am now afraid at the sight of any officer inside their car or on foot…….i fear looking at them for them saying the above and i fear NOT looking at them for fear they will claim i am being evasive.

In their final bid to a Ramsey County jury, prosecutors say officer Jeronimo Yanez fired seven shots to mortally wound Philando Castile only because he was nervous and failed to follow his training.

“Castile was responsive and listening to Yanez,” Prosecutor Jeffrey Paulsen told the jury of the of the July 6, 2016 traffic stop that fueled state and national protests. “The problem was Yanez wasn’t listening to him.”

IF what i read is true the defense is setting up some appeal…..in the closing argument i read they told the jury yanez didnt shoot because he thought castille was going to shoot Chim that he shot because he wasnt following orders……..if so that is clearly incompetent legal council, because that is NOT a legal use of lethal force.

Mindyme,
This weekend I am going to work on a post for Monday. There’s another trial taking place and it began on Monday involving a Milwaukee police officer. The prosecution has already rested, so there’s lots of information to gather.